Sir Charles Kingsley Webster (25 July 1886 – August 1961) was a Cambridge-trained historian and British diplomat. He was educated at
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
as well as the
Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby. After leaving
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
, he went on to become a professor at
Harvard,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, and the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
. He also served as President of the British Academy from 1950 to 1954.
In addition to his career in academia, Webster worked extensively in the
Foreign Office, especially in the United States, and was a leading supporter of the new United Nations, as he had been of the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
.
Life
After studying at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
, Webster became professor of international relations at the
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
, mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all
, established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'')
, former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth
, type = Public
, endowment = ...
where he wrote his two major books on the foreign policy of
Lord Castlereagh
Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Anglo-Irish politician ...
, the first (published in 1925) covering the period 1815–1822, the second (published in 1931) that from 1812 to 1815. In 1932 Webster moved to the newly established Stevenson chair of international relations at the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
(LSE).
![20130808 Kings College Chapel 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/20130808_Kings_College_Chapel_01.jpg)
During World War II, he worked extensively in the
Foreign Office, especially in the United States, and was a leading supporter of the new United Nations, as he had been of the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
. He was involved in the drafting of the
UN Charter
The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: th ...
.
He attended the first meetings of both the General Assembly and the Security Council in January 1946 and the final meeting of the League of Nations in April. He was made a
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the new year's honours list of 1946.
Career
In 1948, Webster gave the
Ford Lectures
The Ford Lectures, technically the James Ford Lectures in British History, are an annual series of public lectures held at the University of Oxford on the subject of English or British history. They are usually devoted to a particular historical ...
in the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
. In 1951, his biography of
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...
was finally published. He was President of the
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...
in 1950. He was awarded honorary degrees from
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
Wales, Rome, and
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...
, Massachusetts, and was made an honorary fellow at
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
. He retired from his chair at the LSE in 1953.
* Professor of Modern History, Liverpool University, 1914–1922
* Subaltern in the Royal Army Service Corps, 1915–1917
* General Staff of the War Office, 1917–1918
* Secretary, Military Section, British Delegation to the Conference of Paris, 1918–1919
* Wilson Professor of International Politics, University of Wales, 1922–1932
*
Außerordentlicher (=Associate) Professor, University of Vienna, 1926
* Nobel Lecturer, Oslo, 1926
* Reader, University of Calcutta, India, 1927
* Professor of History, Harvard University, USA, 1928–1932
* Stevenson Professor of International History, London School of Economics and Political Science, 1932–1953
* Foreign Research and Press Service, 1939–1941
* Director, British School of Information, New York, 1941–1942
* Foreign Office, 1943–1946
* Member of British Delegation, Dumbarton Oaks and San Francisco Conferences, 1944–1945
* Member, Preparatory Commission and General Assembly, United Nations, 1945–1946
* Ford Lecturer, Oxford University, 1948
* President, 1950–1954, and Foreign Secretary, 1955–1958, British Academy
Works
* ''The Congress of Vienna, 1814–1815'', London: Foreign Office Historical Section, 1919
* ''The Congress of Vienna'', Oxford University Press, 1919 (with copyedit instructions, 1934)
online at Internet Archive* ''British diplomacy, 1813–1815 : select documents dealing with the reconstruction of Europe'', 1921, 409p
online at Internet Archive* ''The pacification of Europe, 1813–1815'', 1922
* ''The Congress of Vienna, 1814–15, and the Conference of Paris, 1919'', London, 1923
* ''The Foreign Policy of Castlereagh (1815–1822) Britain and the European Alliance'', London: G. Bell and Sons, 1925
online at Internet Archive* ''The European alliance, 1815–1825'', University of Calcutta, 1929
* ''What the world owes to President Wilson'', London: League of Nations Union, 1930
* ''The League of Nations in theory and practice'', London: Allen and Unwin, 1933
* ''Palmerston, Metternich and the European system, 1830–1841'', London: Humphrey Milford, London, 1934
* Editor of ''British diplomatic representatives, 1789–1852'', London, 1934
* Editor of ''Britain and the independence of Latin America, 1812–1830'', London: Ibero-American Institute of Great Britain, 1938
* ''Some problems of international organisation'', University of Leeds, 1943
* Editor of ''Some letters of the Duke of Wellington to his brother, William Wellesley-Pole'', London, 1948
* ''The Foreign Policy of Palmerston, 1830–1841: Britain, the Liberal Movement, and the Eastern Question'', 1951
online edition of vol 2
* ''The art and practice of diplomacy'', London School of Economics, 1952
online
* ''British Foreign Policy since the Second World War''
* ''The founder of the national home'', Weizmann Science Press of Israel, 1955
* ''Sanctions: the use of force in an international organisation'', London, 1956
* ''The strategic air offensive against Germany, 1939–1945'', London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1961, coauthor, 3 volumes, official history
References
Sources
* Fagg, John Edwin. "Sir Charles Webster 1886– " in S. William Helperin, ed., ''Some 20th century historians'' (1961) pp 171–200.
* Hall, Ian. "The art and practice of a diplomatic historian: Sir Charles Webster, 1886–1961." ''International Politics'' 42.4 (2005): 470–490.
* Reynolds, P. A. and E. J. Hughes, ''The historian as diplomat: Charles Kingsley Webster and the United Nations, 1939–1946'', (1976).
External links
*
Catalogue of the Webster papersat th
of the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Charles
1886 births
1961 deaths
Academics of Aberystwyth University
Academics of the London School of Economics
Royal Army Service Corps officers
British diplomats
British Army personnel of World War I
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Presidents of the British Academy
University of Calcutta faculty
20th-century British historians
People educated at Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby